July 16, 2012

On July 16th, AKB48’s Maeda Atsuko participated in a handshake event at Marine Messe in Fukuoka.
This marked Maeda’s last handshake event as a member of AKB48. She started by saying, “Time passes by really fast, this is really my last,” and continued, “After
graduating from AKB, I think my opportunity to see everyone like this
will decrease. That’s why I want to burn this day into my mind and make
memories.”
Additionally, Takahashi Minami announced that the group’s 4th album will be titled “1830m“. The album shares the same title as AKB48’s 3-day concert at Tokyo Dome, ‘AKB48 in TOKYO DOME ~1830m no Yume~‘,
which will be held from August 24th to the 26th. 1830 represents the
distance between AKB48 Theatre and Tokyo Dome. Takahashi expressed, “It took 7 years, but it’s a new start!”